Lyon welcome back striking quartet for Cup

PARIS, January 4 (Coupe de France) - Lyon will be fresh from a two-week break
and boosted by the return of four of their strikers when they take on Bayonne in
the first round of the Coupe de France this weekend.

Les Gones are bidding for a unique quadruple this season, and their next port
of call is an amateur team based in the Basque country.

Coach Gerard Houllier should not need any extra help for this particular
fixture - Lyon are top of Ligue 1 by 14 points and Bayonne are in the equivalent
of the fourth division.

But he will be able to call upon the services of attackers Fred, Karim
Benzema, Sylvain Wiltord and John Carew, who are all back in training following
injury.

Carew might not be risked as he has only just returned, but the other three
are in contention for starting roles.

Fred and Benzema especially will see Sunday's game as an ideal opportunity to
get some playing time under their belts before the resumption of Ligue 1 next
weekend.

Holders Paris St Germain will once again be playing in front of a half-full
Parc des Princes when they welcome Nimes on Sunday.

Two stands in the ground remain closed, six weeks after the violence that saw
a fan killed in the aftermath of a UEFA Cup tie against Hapoel Tel Aviv.

On the pitch, under-pressure coach Guy Lacombe may hand a debut to playmaker
Marcelo Gallardo, who has recently signed on a free transfer.

The other Ligue 1 teams play their first-round matches on Saturday, except for
Nice, who are away at Creteil on Friday night.

Fabien Barthez could take the goalkeeping gloves for Nantes when they
entertain Guingamp.

The World Cup winner, who penned a six-month contract with Les Canaris before
the winter break, walked out of training on Wednesday but coach Georges Eo
poured cold water on the incident.

'There are not any problems,' said Eo. 'There are just moments when he
doesn't wish to do certain things.

'For me, the subject is closed and I am concentrating on the match.'

There are two all-Ligue 1 games - Nancy against Lens and St Etienne against
Sochaux, while there are a number of potential banana skins for top-flight
clubs.